Blake Draeger gives a smile at the burn unit of the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, where he is recovering from the lightning strike that put him in the hospital on June 26.

June 26 started as a typical day on the Draeger family farm in the town of Rib Falls. Chris Draeger was helping his father, Wayne Draeger, with some chores while Chris' son, Blake, rode his dirt bike in a nearby field.

Some gray clouds were rolling in and a hint of rain was in the air when, without warning, a bolt of lightning arced through the sky and struck 8-year-old Blake, throwing him from his minibike - though Chris doesn't recall hearing thunder or seeing signs of a thunderstorm.

He only remembers seeing his son thrown to the ground, and then sprinting to his son's limp body and ripping off the boy's helmet and other protective cycle gear as Wayne Draeger's wife, Jenifer Wilhelm, phoned 911 for help.

"As I took his helmet off the back of his head was extremely hot, it almost hurt to touch his body," Draeger said. "I could smell burnt skin and his face looked like he was somewhere where a bomb had gone off. He's got beautiful long blonde hair and it was a burnt mess. I just kept thinking, 'This can't be happening.'"

A week after hundreds of millions of volts of electricity raced through Blake's body, heating him and the air around him to nearly 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit in a fraction of a second, the Weston boy is recovering at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison where doctors agree he is fortunate not to have become one of the 2,000 people killed worldwide every year by lightning.

The blast of electricity ravaged Blake's body. It ruptured both his eardrums, scratched the lenses of his eyeballs and left more than a quarter of his body covered with second-degree burns before exiting through a wound in his back.

Although Blake appears to be on the road to recovery now and doctors say he could come through with no permanent injuries, that was anything but certain immediately after he was struck.

When Chris, the owner of Draeger Trucking and Excavating in Marathon, reached his son, Blake was unconscious. Wayne drove a pickup to Blake's side and everyone climbed inside. Chris began doing CPR as they headed toward Wausau.

After several minutes of CPR, Blake moaned and his body shook.

"I was just so happy when he began to breathe again," Chris said. "But I was worried about him ending up as a complete vegetable. He was staring into outer space and his eyes were going every which way, he was moaning and shaking and at that point I just didn't know what to think."

An ambulance, alerted by Jenifer's frantic 911 call, met the group on 72nd Avenue and put Blake on life support as they rushed him to Aspirus Wausau Hospital. Blake stayed at Aspirus for only an hour or two before he was transported by ambulance to the hospital in Madison. Blake could not be transported by helicopter because by then the same storm that injured Blake had settled in over Wausau, grounding the emergency chopper.

Chris said the medical team at UW doesn't predict any permanent damage to Blake's ears or eyes. Doctors visit with him every couple of days to remove a bit more of the burned skin that covers most of his body.

Blake's nickname is "Tuffy," and Wilhelm said the name accurately describes how Blake is dealing with the situation.

"When he first came to, he seemed overwhelmed by what had happened to him," Wilhelm said. "But today his mood is 100 percent better than it was a couple days ago, and every day he is getting better and asking more questions."

Blake, a student at the Wausau Area Montessori Charter School, could be released from the hospital as early as Thursday. Chris said he is unsure whether Blake will fear thunderstorms, but he is certain Blake will continue to love the outdoors and ride his dirt bike.

What he doesn't know is which medical bills, which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars, his insurance will cover. He said for the moment he is focusing on Blake's recovery.

"He's ready to go home and play with his friends, and he is so tough that I think he's going to be just fine," Chris said. "He's always been such a good kid. If anything, I think this teaches everyone not to take daily things for granted and to realize how fast your life can change."